I remember a time when there was someone in my life that was hard to love. The disdain I felt towards this person was like a disease that I couldn’t heal. I hit a point when I was so tired of faking love toward them, and I wondered if God could help me to genuinely love them – to clean my heart of this hardness.
In Mark 1, a man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. He asked Jesus, “If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.” Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” Instantly the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed.
As I prayed for a clean heart, it was not an instant healing. As God proves to do all things better than we can imagine or ask, my relationship with this person gently bloomed over time and we reconciled our differences. My love for them grew, and it is still a genuine and pure love.
Is there another hardness in my heart that seems beyond my strength to heal? Search me Lord, help me to recognize it and bring it to you.
Jesus, you know what’s deep inside my heart. Create in me a pure heart. You are a safe place, as I see my weaknesses and hurts. If you are willing, you can heal me. Create in me a pure heart. I need you Jesus. Clean my heart of pride, hate, selfishness, greed, seeking influence or popularity, judging others. Create in me a pure heart. May I live and love with a heart like yours, Jesus. Thank you, Amen.
My Heart, My Home 